Latest / Into The Barchive / Coca-Cola — The Mixer That Took Over the World
Transcript
- ITB: Into the bark eye where the past comes alive. Sip the tails, let them drive. Welcome to the bark hive. Welcome back, Barkavist, to Into the Barkhive, the podcast where we dive deep into the stories, people, and cocktails that shape the way we drink. I'm Tim Wright, mixologist, above average curious drinker, and your slightly tipsy tour guy through this booze history. And I'm Dr. Blake Jones, historian and certified specialist of spirits, here to pour out the stories behind what's in your glass. And today we're diving into something that might already be sitting in your refrigerator. Something that's fueled road trips, movie nights, family dinners, and of course, countless cocktails. We're talking about Coca-Cola. And before anyone says, wait, are you dedicating an entire episode to Coke? To a mixer? To a soda? The answer is absolutely yes. This icon deserves its own stage. It's an absolute yes. An episode for Coca-Cola. Yeah, because Coca-Cola is not just a beverage, it's a global cultural phenomenon. A piece of American history and one of the most influential mixers in cocktail culture, from a jack and coke in the American South to the Calamaxto in Spain. So today we're looking at how a syrup created in Atlanta, Georgia pharmacy became a worldwide icon. How it found its way into bars around the globe, and why sometimes the simplest of cocktails are actually some of the most historically interesting drinks we have ever had. And along the way, we'll make two classic cocktails, the classic Cubalibre and Mexico's beloved Batanga. Two drinks that prove a point that we come back to often on this show. Sometimes a cocktail's history isn't found in a fancy cocktail bar or lounge. Sometimes it's found in a bottle of something familiar, shared by ordinary people and extraordinary moments. So grab your favorite glass, crack open something fizzy, and let's get into the barcodes. The first Coca-Cola classic cocktail we're gonna make is the Cuba Libre. All built in the g in the glass. So let's go ahead and ice her down. Now that we have ice in our glass, we're gonna pour two ounces of Cuban rum for our Cuba Libre. Our next ingredient is going to be a half ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice. And then the star of the show, our classic Coke. And then for our garnish, a lamb witch. Simple, yet classic, the Cubalibre. For our second cocktail, we're going to make the batanga. So first we're going to start by prepping our glass. So take a simple highball glass, take a wedge of lime, and kind of get some of the juice around that where you would like a little bit of a salt rim. I'm not doing all the way around, but get trying to get a nice little partial. salt rim, so that'll work. From there we'll ice the glass down. And by using that technique on the salt rim, it keeps all the salt on the outside of the glass rather than the salt getting inside the drink along the way. From there, we'll take two ounces of a silver tequila or a blanco tequila. Make sure you're using something at least 100% blue agave. We'll add that directly into the glass. From there, we'll cut a lime in half. And then we will juice it to get a half ounce of lime juice. And so ⁓ I'll try to include this in the episode notes. It's a flu serve, very effective. So we're adding our half ounce of lime juice. And then our final ingredient, of course, is Coca-Cola. We will add that and as best we can try to pour it off the ice. And one of the traditions about the batanga that we'll talk a little more in the episode about is you take the knife you cut your line with and just give it a little stir to make sure everything is nice and combined. And add your straw for the batanga. Now that we've built the cocktails, let's build the context. The birth of Coca-Cola. Where did it come from? How did it come about? So, like many great American stories, it begins with a little experimentation, a little marketing, and a little mythology. Okay. So Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. So Pemberton was a Confederate veteran and pharmacist who was interested in creating medicinal tonics. And at the time, pharmacies were not just places to pick up prescriptions, they were social spaces. People gathered at soda fountains and carbonated drinks were often marketed as healthful. Of course, why not? Yeah, and I mean, you know, it's kind of wild when you think about today's soda culture. I mean, you go into ⁓ a grocery store and there are rows and rows of different types of fizzy beverages now. Yeah, and today, while we think of soda as like a treat in the nineteenth century, these fizzy drinks were almost positioned as medicinal. Yeah, you know, whatever, a little t a little tummy issue, have a soda here, a little cough. Have a soda there, right? Yeah, and it's one of those things where the original Coca-Cola formula actually contained coca leaf extract. Yes. And cola nut, which contained caffeine. And so the name itself, Coca-Cola, comes from coca leaf. Yes. Right? And so it comes from those ingredients. And the original b drink wasn't sold in bottles, it was sold as a Fountain drink. Fountain drink, a jerk. Yeah. So customers would go to the soda fountain and the syrup would be mixed with carbonated water. The bottled version would come later. Okay. And that changes everything. Of course it does, because now it's readily available. Yeah, and it's easy to ship. And so Coca-Cola's growth becomes tied to this larger story about American industrialization, advertising. And global expansion once you bottle Coca-Cola. So, how does Coca-Cola go from an Atlanta pharmacy to basically everywhere in the world? And part of this is Coca-Cola spread around the world is a great example of modern branding. Yes. So by the early 20th century, Coca-Cola was expanding beyond the United States, and the company's global identity really grew during the 1950s. 40s. Okay. During World War II, Coca-Cola made the commitment to that every American service member should be able to get a bottle of Coca-Cola for five cents, no matter where they were stationed. And by making that promise, it now stretches this thing worldwide. Yeah, because it's World War II. So you have soldiers fighting in Africa, in the Pacific, in Europe. all around the world so wherever American soldiers went so followed Coca-Cola. So bottling plants are now as we've traveled around the world we have seen bottling plants pop up globally. I never thought that they were also most of the time close to bases. Yeah I mean if you think about like transportation it's A lot more expensive to transport cases and cases of filled bottles of Coca-Cola. Easier to transport the syrup and bottle it and produce it there. That makes a heck of a lot more sense being able to like explain why those massive b buildings are near some of the most I would recognizeable military bases around the world. Yeah, and and what's interesting though is although Coca-Cola follows the American soldier around the globe, Coca-Cola didn't just remain an American product. Different places developed their own relationship with it. ⁓ yeah. I mean, in some countries it became associated with like American modernity. It's like, ⁓ we want to be like the Americans or be modern. And in other places it just becomes part of their local food and drinking traditions. Yeah. The So this comes back to that cocktail, the drinking tradition, right? So because Coca-Cola just isn't something that you drink alone, it becomes a mixer now. Mm-hmm. And it Coca-Cola brings several things to a cocktail. Obviously, it brings sweetness. Yes. It brings some acidity. Yes. It brings bitterness from some of the caramelized flavors. Yeah. ⁓ carbonation. Yeah, so texture from the bubbles. And that kind of familiar flavor profile that kind of bridges different spirits, whether it's a lightly aged Cuban rum or a Blanco tequila from Mexico. Okay, you've already jumped into it. So let's talk about the lightly aged Cuban rum and the Cuba Livre. I mean simple ingredients, massive history. And you got the history, and I'm here to listen. Okay, well, I mean, you know, it's a simple drink, it's rum. Coca-Cola and a little lime juice. It is the traditional rum and coke. Yes, but what makes it a Cuba libre is the lime wedge and the story. Because the story that connects it directly to Cuban independence and American influence. The name Cuba Libre means free Cuba, which was a rallying cry during Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. And while the exact Origin of the cocktail is hazy. the commonly told story places it in Havana, Cuba, about the turn of the 20th century, just after the Spanish-American War. Bacardi claims an American soldier invented the cocktail in Havana shortly after the war, adding Coca-Cola and a little lime juice to his Bacardi rum, and he toasted his Cuban friends in the bar. And he exclaimed for Cuba Libre, or for a free Cuba. And so although the combination of rum and coke doesn't appear in print as the Cuba Libre until the late nineteen twenties, we know that there was a Cuba Libre served in Washington, DC in eighteen ninety-eight. We don't know if it's rum, cola, and lime, but it was mentioned to be a refreshing drink. I can Guarantee this is a very refreshing drink. This is now where we're gonna talk about, I guess, cocktails having a snapshot in history, right? This specifically is one of those stories that military and booze come together at a bar with ingredients that are traditional to coop Cuba and to the US. And now we get these stories. So the rum and coke is no longer just that rum and coke. Exactly. This cuba libre is a drink tied to politics, nationalism, and the changing relationship between the United States and Cuba. Now this drink kind of reaches its height during World War II, as American soldiers enjoyed the availability of Coca-Cola around the world because of the company's promise. Five cents. Yep, five cents. And the availability of cheap rum. ⁓ So if you think about it, like we're coming out of prohibition. Yes. And while a lot of people in the United States, when they think Coca-Cola, they think Jack and Coke. Yes. Right. For many Americans in this era, it was rum and coke because American whiskey was hard to come by. Those distillers had shut. Down or they had not distilled or aged much during the So the production the product wasn't there, it was still being produced after prohibition. Yeah, and this is why rum is so cheap. I mean, and I'm sure in a future episode on the hurricane, we'll talk about how to get like one case of whiskey, ⁓ the owner of of course the name escapes me at the moment of the bar in New Orleans that makes the hurricane, Pat O'Brien's. ⁓ why he invented the hurricane is for every case of whiskey he had to get like a dozen cases of rum. ⁓ it was kind of that back he had to do the the handshake with the distributor to make sure it's like the modern ⁓ Buffalo Trace and Wheatley vodka pairing, right? But ⁓ this is part of the reason the Kubali race spreads is You got your Coca-Cola and rum is so much more readily available than Jack Daniels or any other American. We've talked about them, so let's break down those ingredients: the rum and the Coke. Without the lime, it's a completely different drink, right? Adding that citrus, I specifically the lime, adds the brightness and keeps the sweetness of a Coke, especially a pure sugarcane version of Coca-Cola in check. Now, when mixing cola's You want to make sure that you want to keep it balanced. And so I think both of our cocktails keep that. And with this one, it goes without saying. Yes, the lime does sort of have that ⁓ extra flavor of that's why it's a cubilibre and just not a rum and coke. But as we teach people in our cocktail classes, when you get served a wedge, it's not there for just looks. If you need extra citrus because it is still too sweet or it's still not meeting the profile you want, give it an extra little squeeze. This is your cocktail to play with when you get that extra garnish. Yeah, and when you when we talk about the spirit, when you're mixing spirits with cola, you want balance. And since the cola is already sweet, your choice of rum, tequila, or whatever matters. So in this case, we use a little more age rum. So you could use like a light. Unaged rum or lightly aged rum, and then that's been charcoal the color's been charcoal filtered out. So the lighter rum is gonna create a cleaner, brighter drink. Yep. The aged rum is gonna bring in vanilla. Mm-hmm. It's gonna bring in oak and caramel notes that really complement some of those similar flavors in Coca Cola. I love the fact that you said the vanilla because a vanilla coat. Right. It's kind of a a good go to if I go to like a a sonic or a place that's mixing your own kind of extra syrup. But adding that that that Havana Club, ⁓ was it an eight year or is it? ⁓ the one's kinda N Yeah. Yeah, N Yeho for several yeah. ⁓ they don't specify 'cause they've got their three year and a seven year. This is kind of the in between. ⁓ so frequently used for this very copy. But that vanilla note comes through easily. On this one. Well, we've talked about the Cuba Libre. Let's talk about the Batenga. Yeah, so the Batanga comes from Mexico, of course, in the 1950s, specifically ⁓ associated with the bar La Capilla, which is translated the chapel. Yep. And this drink is from the town of Tequila en Jalisco. Okay. and it comes from the bartender Javier Delgado Corona. And I don't think there's any association association with the beer. Just just yeah. Coincidental. Yeah. But Don Javier, one of the signature things he did, and I tried to emulate that a little, is he mixed his version with a large utility knife. Yeah. And he used that knife to cut limes, to cut chilies, to cut avocados, like to make guacamole, or to cut for anything else behind the bar. So regulars of La Copia argue that stirring the batanga with this knife gives the batanga a certain flavor that you can't find anywhere else. So here's it here's this guy behind the bar. He's not only bargeing or he's prepping other things for the cooks or whatever. You know, he's so he's chopping some chilies, he's chopping some some tomatoes, he's got some cilantro going. This knife's got debris all over the place. Maybe wipes it off on a towel. What do you have and ⁓ I'm having a a tequila a tequila soda, right? Or tequila and coke. Goes and cuts it with that same one, getting some of that debris. Stir, stir, stir. There you go. Adding some ⁓ again, flair. Yeah. It's it's a cool story. Definitely if there is part of like some of that debris, that's adding some additional flavor. So yeah, that's a fun like thing to lean into. So yeah, a nod to stirring with the cutting desel. Yeah. Absolutely. And People have talked about how coveted that knife is. There have been offers to like buy it. Because I mean, I'm sure he's gone through multiple knives over the many years he's been making the drink, but like as a display piece or something like that. ⁓ but the Batanga is a great example of how a very simple drink becomes a local tradition. So how was this discovered though? So journalists discovered the Batanga only like in the nineteen nineties. So it'd been around for several decades at this point. And while the Batanga has become popular in Australia and Europe, you rarely see the Batanga here in the United States. No, I mean i it w I think over the last few years it popped up summertime, you know, Instagram, kind of social media ⁓ had its had its heyday with it. ⁓ but that was kind of the first time that I was ever introduced to it. I just thought it was a tequila Coke, right? Like not specifically a name. Yeah, and so kind of just like a cuba libre is more than a Roman Coke, the batanga is more than a tequila and coke. ⁓ you had the lime juice again that balances the sweetness in the cola and adds some brightness. And the salt rim on the glass does the same thing salt does in cooking. It enhances the flavor and balances the sweetness and helps some of it just pop a little bit. So we talked about our two cocktails, but let's bring this back to the star of today's show. Techniques of using Coca-Cola in a cocktail. Yeah. Using Coca-Cola and cocktails, you know, we think about these, these are simple drinks. But simple doesn't mean careless. ⁓ okay. The biggest mistake people make ⁓ in making Coca-Cola cocktails are a lot of simple like highball cocktails, is they treat the mixer like an afterthought. And we've talked about this before in the highball ⁓ episode specifically. Ratios matter. Mm-hmm. If you put too much cola in, the spirit disappears. Correct. If you put too little cola in it becomes harsh. It there could be some bite from the spirit. Yeah, and and one thing I'll say too is like this is why the size matters in terms of the mixer. Like When you go to a grocery store, traditionally Mexican coats here in the United States are like in the dollar or like half liter, like half liter, yeah. Five hundred milliliters. That's way more than you need for two ounces of spirit. Or and so people get like massive pint glasses and or something like that. But they've recently here in the United States come out with these smaller little eight ounce, two hundred and thirty five milliliter bottles. And these are nice because they're more cocktail like single serve cocktail friendly. Yeah. ⁓ I mean, we both used a fresh one for both of our drinks, and but we still had a good, I would say, fifth of the bottle left, if not a little bit more, because again, it's not needed. It was basically a four to one ratio of cola to the spirit. Maybe a little different. Three to one. About six ounces of Coca Cola to two ounces spirit and a half ounce lime juice. Then the other thing about making sure that the ratio is correct, it's also about the temperature. Like I want a cold drink. I don't want it to be a warm coke. That came straight from the refrigerator. It's still sweating. Yeah, and it's not just it being cold, it's about the carbonation too. You want your cola cocktails to have some fizz to them. And so you want cold cola, plenty of ice. One of the issues is warm cola goes flat faster and changes the texture. So you want ice cold cola to maximize carbonation in your cocktail. I remember us growing up, we would always keep the Coke in the refrigerator because it kept it fizier longer. Exactly. And then finally, of course, the Type Cola matters. It does. while we on the these episodes talk about the difference of the high fructose corn syrup cokes and but also it matters if you're going to use the diets, the zeros, the whatever that will change the flavor profile because while some of you might not admit it. There is a difference in the flavors of those different styles of Cokes. And ⁓ sorry, not sorry. ⁓ Pepsi is different than Coca-Cola. Yeah, we're talk we're calling out Coca-Cola in these episodes. It's meant for that specific recipe, that flavor profile. Yeah, and I mean like I guess if you're like Pepsi, you could like balance the cocktail differently, but it's gonna taste different. Correct. Different colas have different sweetness levels, they have different spice notes, different levels of acidity, different levels of carbonation. And just like not all gins, not all vermouths are the same, not all colas are the same. And your choice of mixer can shape the final cocktail. There's a there's a time and a moment for an RC in a moon pie, but this ain't it. Yeah, and and the other thing I think that's worth saying is to make great. Cocktails using Coca-Cola to use Mexican co. Yeah, sure. It goes a bit again. That that cane sugar makes a difference. The last, I think, helpful hint on when using a soda cocktail of but specifically a Coca-Cola cocktail is don't over-stir the dang thing. You're releasing that carbonation that we're trying to preserve in the last two steps, right? Like don't over stir. Yeah, I I can imagine when Don Javier wipes off his utility knife from cutting avocados to make a batanga, it's just a quick way to integrate the spirit, the lime juice, and the cola, but not like stirring like you're stirring a martini. Yeah. It's more of a lift lift lift. Couple lifts. Couple lifts and it's done. Yep. Alright, as we draw this episode to a close, we've gone from a pharmacy soda fountain in Atlanta, Georgia, to Havana, down to Jalisco, and now back here in Nashville, Tennessee. What do we have? Well, pervas that journey is what makes cocktails so fascinating. The ingredients might seem simple. But every bottle and we're not just talking spirits here. We're also talking sodas. Yeah, right? Every bottle, every recipe and every tradition has a story. Coca-Cola became one of the world's most recognizable drinks, but in the hands of bartenders and home drink makers, it became something else too. A bridge between culture, spirits, and generations. ⁓ for this episode, thank you for watching. Always hit that like and subscribe button if you're on YouTube right now or following along on Instagram or TikTok. ⁓ for those that are going and subscribing to our podcast on Apple or Spotify, thank you. And what we would ask is go ahead, drop us a comment down. What's your favorite cocktail using Coke in it? Have you tried to reduce down a Coke and make a Coke syrup? What do have for next time? So next time on Into the Barchive, we're training carbonation for something a little more old world as we explore the Sherry Cobbler. We're having pie? Not that type of cobbler. So we're gonna dig into the history of this sherry? Yeah, so we'll talk about the history of sherry, the golden age American cocktails, and the drink that helped make crushed ice and straws. a part of cocktail culture. So until next time, keep exploring the past. Yeah, one drink at a time as we dive deeper into the bark hive.